SATHYAN S. Vs. SUNILA SUDHAKAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard the counsel for the appellant, Mr. R. Anil Kumar for the first respondent and the Government Pleader for respondents 2 and 3. By the impugned judgment, the learned Single Judge was of the view that the dispute under the Kerala Headload Workers Act between the petitioner and the third respondent, being the Union, shall be settled by labour authorities concerned and the parties can approach the labour authorities,

(2.) They third respondent, Secretary, INTUC Union, Varkala, is the appellant and the petitioner is the first respondent.

(3.) The appellant is the General Secretary of the Varkala Maithanam Unit of INTUC Union in which 19 workers are doing loading and unloading works in a number of institutions and business centres at Varkala. Among such dozens of business centres for Kottakkal Arya Vaidyasala, Maidanam, Varkala also the aforesaid workers are loading and unloading Ayurveda medicines for the last more than 15 years. The said Vaidyasala was running in two different buildings at Varkala. The present building in which the same is housed belonged to the father of the first respondent. It was claimed by the appellant that even during 1995, the bonus was paid to the appellant Union by the first respondent in the name of Kottakkal Arya Vaidyasala. The medicines which were coming from the head office of Kottakkal Arya Vaidyasala in lorry even before and after filing of the Writ Petition were delivered and fully unloaded and stored by the members of the appellant Union and the allegation that the same was used to be done by the staff members and the relatives of the first respondent were utterly false. In fact, the lorry could not get inside the compound wall to deliver the medicines. The lorry could only be stationed at Varkala Railway Station road and the medicines were to be taken from there to the store room by headload. The goods were always unloaded at night. It is not the full lorry load, but a lorry load will be coming with medicine cases for so many branches and the maximum of 40 to 50 cases will be unloaded to the Maidanam Vaidyasala and the lorry will be moving from there with the remaining load of medicines to various other similar Vaidyasalas. At no point of time, the workers raised any objection with regard to the wages which was modified always by slight increment by the management of the Vaidyasala. Initially, it was 25 paise per case before 15 years which was slowly increased to 80 paise per case.